docs: def _maybe_decode(self, value, encoding='utf-8'):
          """If a bytes object is passed in, in the Python 3 environment,
          decode it using the specified encoding to turn it to a str instance.
  
          :param mixed value: The value to possibly decode
          :param str encoding: The encoding to use
          :rtype: str
  
          """
          if _PYTHON3 and isinstance(value, bytes):
              try:
                  return value.decode(encoding)
              except Exception as err:
                  self.logger.exception('Error decoding value: %s', err)
                  raise MessageException(
                      str(err), 'decoding-{}'.format(encoding))
          return value